There was a young man named David who was born in Canada. He had a caring mother and a father who was a war hero for actions above the call of duty in the Middle East. One day David and his parents were leaving for a family trip. As they were getting into the car David forgot something and ran back to the house to get it. As he came back out of the house he was knocked to the ground by a loud boom as the car was engulfed in flames. David’s father was honoured with a military funeral and his mother was buried next to him. David went into depression and if that was not bad enough he had no other family to stay with in Canada. David lived with a foster family for about 8 months until it was discovered he had relatives in the United States. Everything was arranged and David was sent off to the United States to live with the distant relatives.

David looked out into the night sky as the plane flew above the grey clouds. Above the clouds was nothing but the black night and the stars that made the sky brighter. Up here there is a great peace but in the back of his mind lies the shadow of the past that hides a terrible scar. It doesn’t suddenly appear like the shot of a rifle but progressively builds like a forest fire. It is a burning and painful scar; that scar being the memory of that terrible day when his mother and father were taken from him by unknown hands. He missed his mother and father and that is what he mostly thought about. Moving to the U.S was supposed to be a chance to start over but David didn’t feel the need to start over; he just wanted to be alone as much as possible.

The plane landed on the runway, he found what possessions he could carry on his back, and looked for his relatives. David found who he was looking for, his American aunt. During the drive to his new home his aunt, somewhere in her 30’s and 40’s, was trying to make conversation with David but David just replied with the most simple answers like “Yes” or “Neat”. When they got to the house stared for a bit then got his things. He knocked the snow off his boots then his aunt showed him inside. He entered and found his uncle and cousin. David’s uncle was in his 30’s and 40’s like his aunt and his cousin was around the same age as him. David reserved in nature hesitated in making any bold moves but the stalemate was then broken when his cousin moved forward to greet him and said “Hey, I’m Lilia". David making an attempt to be as polite as possible replies “Hey... I’m David”. David felt awkward and asked to be shown where his room is. He picked up his things and was shown by his aunt to his room upstairs. When his aunt opened the door he saw his room was already prepared for him, a bed and all the basic furniture. David placed his belongings next to the nightstand. As he thought about going to bed after the long flight and long drive he was stopped by a grumble in his stomach. “It looks like someone is hungry” said his aunt in the doorway.

Everyone sat at the table for dinner. David felt very awkward, his aunt, uncle and cousin Lilia may have been family but it felt far from it. These were people he had never known existed, they were strangers to him. Despite this he remains cool and polite as much as possible while still remaining reserved, they have after all given him a place he could call home. David is as much a stranger to them as they are too him yet they welcome him with open arms, after all they are family one way or another.

“So you are from Canada?” asked his uncle. David replied with a simple yes. To break the silence his uncle continued. “So, I understand your father was some sort of hero?” David was silent then he replied “Yes, he won the Star of Military Valour, the second highest medal for military valour, for actions somewhere in the Middle East. Now I wish not to talk about him anymore or my mother.”

Feeling that he was too short with his uncle David continues. “Look, I’m sorry I just don’t like to talk about it.” “Well, fair enough and no harm done.” David’s uncle replies. To hep ease the small tension David’s aunt says “So David, are you looking forward to school?” “I guess so, I don’t exactly know what to expect but I hope for the best.” David said. “Oh I’m sure you will do fine.” His aunt adds. “Well, thank you for dinner. May I go to bed now? David says. “Sure” says his uncle. Everyone exchanges their goodnights and David goes upstairs to his room.

David could not sleep because he felt home sick. He didn’t feel home sick for that foster place or for Canada for that matter; he felt home sick for his parents that were savagely and suddenly taken from him. He set up his belongings in an organized fashion into his bedroom. On his nightstand he placed his family picture and that shining Star of Military Valour, a medal awarded to Canadian soldiers who demonstrate distinguished and valiant service in the face of the enemy. He sighed and went to window and started staring out into the sky.

David was a religious person, Christian - Protestant, this isn’t to say he believed every word of the Bible, in fact he didn’t, and the same went for the Pope. David had never even set foot in a church besides when he was baptized. He was Christian because he not only valued the lessons taught from the Bible but he believed in God, Jesus and especially heaven. He believed that up in heaven his parents lived in peace. Rarely David prayed but tonight he felt this was a night to pray, not to God but to his parents. As he prayed he did not realize Lilia was listening in on him wondering why he was up so late.

Lilia accidently made a noise with the door and got David’s attention. David was not mad at her, he was curious as to why she was listening in him. Lilia quickly explained that she was wondering what he was doing up so late. David noticed he was unusually comfortable with Lilia, it was unusual because they had met only for one day, maybe the fact she was his cousin started to set into mind, who knows. He invites her in having no idea where he is going with this. For the first in 8 months he was felt safe and comfortable. David had never told a soul about his true feelings, about how much he missed his parents, over 8 months he had bottled up his emotions. Meanwhile Lilia is asking questions that David hadn’t been paying attention.

Lilia already knew about his past as did David’s uncle and aunt. David then suddenly started to shed small tears. Lilia asked David “What’s wrong?” but David trying to be a trooper remained silent. As Lilia thought of leaving avis then suddenly spilled out the words “I miss them.” and started to cry more. David was cradled in Lilia’s arms as he cried, calmed down, and fell asleep. Lilia carefully and considerately put David to bed and it was not too hard as David was fast asleep. If Lilia didn’t know about David he would of thought he was weird or something for what had happened but she did know about him and only felt pity for him.

The next morning David woke up for school. As he walked out the bedroom door for the bathroom he saw Lilia and immediately said “Lilia... could last night stay between you and me.” “Yes.” said Lilia tired. David said thank you and went to the washroom to get ready for school. Down stairs David put his back pack on and Lilia carried her school materials in her arms. As David’s aunt said goodbye David and Lilia left and walked to school in the snow.

David and Lilia arrived at school and went inside. “Do you think you’ll be aright on your own?” asked Lilia. David didn’t know what to feel but he didn’t want Lilia to feel obliged to hold his hand the whole way so he just said “I got this”. Lilia then said “Well, see you later then” and went toward her friends. As he watched her walk away one of her friends caught his eye, he look at her in awe then looked away in haste. He had no idea what he was supposed to do so he just gave himself a simple objective, find his locker and class room. That became a problem when the bell rang.

David finally found his class but 5 minutes late. The teacher was easy on him and introduced him to the class then David took a seat at a desk that was empty. Something was on David’s mind, it was fear, fear because if there was one subject he was weak at it was math. This isn’t to say he is stupid, he had a fair knowledge of English, was good with geography, and when it came to history he was very smart despite the fact he was Canadian in an American school. His attention then turned to that girl he saw earlier, he started day dreaming and forgot he was staring at that girl; he adored her face the most. Then as he stopped day dreaming he realized she started looking at him too but not directly and was smiling. In panic and not knowing exactly how to react he quickly started looking at the front of the class and paid attention to the teacher.

It was lunch at the cafeteria and David chose to eat his lunch alone. He would like company except he wasn’t exactly open to just waltz right up to someone and just ask for friendship like that, he knew very well that was one of the most suicidal things you could do. If someone wanted to be his friend they could go to him. It became clear that wouldn’t happen when some food flew through the air and was hit in the head. He looked towards the laughter going on at the table and he was able to quickly single out the one responsible. Normally someone would have been upset by this but you could see in David’s eyes there was only anger. David thought of fighting but instead he left to clean himself up.

Things for David only got worse when at lunch the same group picked on him an called him names because he was not just new but Canadian on American soil. When school ended he found his own way home. When he got home his aunt asked him how school was. He lied and said it was fine, but the expression on his face showed he wasn’t exactly impressed. He didn’t get much math homework done because he struggled with it. After dinner he just went to his room and laid down on his bed in his own meditation. He did not look forward to the next day of school. He sighed then went to sleep.

It was lunch on the next day of school and it was a repeat of the lunch before, eating alone, food flying into your head from the same guy, and going to the bathroom to clean up. When finished cleaning up once more he looked in the mirror. He let loose some small tears but then sadness turned into anger as a flash back of that terrible day from long ago occurred. When he was outside after cleaning up he heard the name calling begin. David looked and saw his new enemy and marched up to him. His foe overconfident was starting an insult about Canadians but before he could finish avid punched him across the face and was on the ground. Before he could get up David was holding him by his coat and David delivered a blitzkrieg of punches to his face.

David got up and stood victorious above the bully. David then said to the bloodied foe on the ground “I have nothing against Americans, but I do have something against a**holes, I don’t care where they come from”. David said this loud enough for everyone around to hear. As he walked away trying to get the blood on his hands off. He stopped to pick up his hat but someone had picked it up already. The young man went over to David and gave it to him. This young man was Luke, the boyfriend of Lilia and now David’s friend. David was escorted by a teacher to detention but David did not care, he was satisfied with a growing sense of victory in his heart, he had stood for what was right. It was this fact that the girl that David had his eye on secretly admired. Part 2

3 Weeks later.

Deep in the forest coated in snow a pair of hunters look for game, a buck or perhaps a mountain goat. They move silently through the forest, they stop when they spot a buck. There is stood, a large and strong yet majestic buck standing in the open feeding. On its head was a rack of magnificent and large antlers. The hunters knew this buck would be an excellent addition to their trophies. One of them carefully took aim with his shotgun. As he began to pull the trigger a swarm of birds swarmed out behind some bushes and the hunter missed, the buck fled to safety.

The hunter was very angry and started charging the bushes where the birds came from to take his anger out on them. He fired some shotgun slugs at the birds but when he was beyond the bushes he found red snow and the body of a man. The police were on the scene of the crime. At first they thought it was a hunting accident but after further analysis they discovered that he did not suffer from a shotgun wound, he was killed with an automatic assault weapon long before the pair of hunters found the body, maybe hours ago.

In the small town David was becoming a rising star and gained new friendships. He joined the school foot-ball team, was improving at mathematics, and helped build a stronger sense of family with Lilia and his aunt and uncle. David’s family and friends began to see his character unfold more and more. He was kind as well as heavily influenced with loyalty and honour, David was also strong and courageous yet knew how to have fun and had a sense of humour. What many or none did not know is that deep down inside there was more to him. It was not just the painful memory of his mother and father; it was a passion that shined brightly with good and justice, a passion free of hate and despair, David was a romantic. David had by now discovered the name of the girl he has his eyes on, Catherine. David only had one problem with this passion; he was shy.

It was after school on a Friday when Catherine went to see Lilia to go ice skating. It was not Lilia who answered but David. There was some seconds of awkward silence between the two then Catherine spoke up. “Is Lilia here? We are going ice skating.” David replied “She just started getting ready”, “Oh, I’ll wait” said Catherine. David then said with hesitation “Would you like to come inside?” Catherine said “Sure.” Both David and Catherine sat on the couch with some distance between them. There was an awkward feeling David had but he also felt somewhat bold and broke the silence, “So... how are you?” “I’m fine” Catherine replied.” It was then awkward silence.

The awkwardness then suddenly turned more into nervousness as Catherine moved over closer to David. David then felt somewhat relieved because this was an obvious signal. This did not stop shyness but he felt he had to think of something. David then did something daring, in his opinion anyway; he moved closer to Catherine and waited. Then Catherine slowly placed her hand on the couch in the now much smaller space between them and she looked at him with a smile. This was a signal any man would be dumb not to realize. Cautiously David slowly moved his hand toward hers and like magic they were holding hands. David’s nervousness then turned into a relieving comfort. They moved even closer to each other, it was then that as if a force of nature was at work they kissed.

It was on that weekend David and Catherine would spend their time in harmony. David and Catherine went to the gym theatre to watch a movie; they went ice skating together outdoors; they even had a friendly one on one snowball fight. You could swear that David and Catherine were meant for each other. At night they sat on a park bench talking and looking at the stars as they held each other closely on that cold night. They never wanted that moment to end but it was getting late so David walked Catherine home. What they did not realize was that they were being watched.

The next day David woke up, got out of bed, and walked downstairs. He noticed an envelope under the doorway as he walked downstairs. On the front it simply said “David”, he opened the envelope and read the letter which said “We have her”. David was awfully confused and picked up the phone to call Catherine in panic. He called only to find out her parents had no idea were she was, he hanged up. David examined the letter more and found instructions on the back of the letter and they were simple, ‘meet at abandoned mansion, no police’. David did not know what they wanted but he intended to find out.

It was getting dark when David and his friends Luke, Josh, Walter, and Mike. They all understood what must be done... almost, while David’s friends brought things like brass knuckles and base-ball bats David lastly pulled out a .475 Wildey Magnum pistol. His friends stared at him with silence until David finally said “My Dad was a Clint Eastwood fan alright.” His friends replied “Alright.” David then said “Look it’s not even loaded”. He aimed the pistol into air, pulled the trigger, next everyone was awed by the thundering roar it made! “Let’s go.” said David and they all got in Mike’s Jeep and started the journey to the old mansion.

As they drove down the road they realize they were being followed by a black car. The passenger opened his window then the next thing David and his friends knew they were being shot at. “Mike said “Hold on.” And they went off the road with their jeep, the car followed, and now a police cruiser was following too. After a long chase David finally decided to shot back, he aimed but he wasn’t shooting, he was hesitating, then he sat back down hoping they would lose them. This not going to happen as a bullet finally hit Mike in the shoulder. Angered he prepared to fire once more he fired a shot, it hit the hood, he fired again, it hit the hood once more, he fired once more and the bullet went through the glass and into the driver’s chest. The passenger reached for the wheel but it was too late as the car lost control, began to flip on a near by slope, smashed into trees as it rolled down, and then vanished into the river below. The police cruiser stopped.

David and his friends kept going to get away until they had to stop for Mike. Mike was hit in the shoulder and they did their best to patch it up to stop the bleeding. The jeep was to shot up to continue and Mike needed help. David fire his fifth shot into the air to get the police attention so that they would find Mike and Walter who decided to stay with him, he had only 3 shots left. David, Luke, and Josh continued on foot for the mansion that was favourably not that far. After a while of going through the bushes in the dark they finally found the mansion.

David and his friends had a lot on their mind, they had no idea what they ha gotten into but they have made it too far to just run home, they made the plan. David would fire a shot to get the attention of the people inside. Luke and Josh would let them see them run into the forest. Once they go after Luke and Josh, David would go through the front door in and out as fast as possible with Catherine. They all got into their positions, David fired once at the mansion.

Two men came outside and that is when Luke and Josh showed themselves and ran for their lives into the forest, the two men went after them. It was now time for David to swallow his fear and bravely do his part. He approached the mansion and entered. It was an old place with weak wooden boards covering the large hole in the ground. Glass and leaves were on the floor and the walls lacking the white paint that was once beautiful. As he rushed in saw a man appear from up stairs and the man began firing at David. David fired a shot back as he ran for cover behind a pillar near the door way.

“What do you want!?” yelled David. The man replied “I want you to die”. “Why?” replied David. The man began to explain as he stood on the balcony in the large room as if he were a champion or god. He was in the war in the Middle East. It was David’s father who helped bring a defeat to him so humiliating he could never show his face again to his superiors, what was his defeat was David’s victory as he returned home a loved hero. He himself decided to bring revenge and redemption and with the help of a few terrorist he traveled all the way to Canada to kill the David’s bloodline. The man revealed it was he who killed his parents with a car bomb. He thought David died as well until he learned otherwise. He had come to finish the job by killing David.

David’s anger began to build more and more as he had the terrible truth, that this was the man who took his parents lives away and caused his suffering. But then he calmed down because he only had one thing on his mind, that final bullet. The man kept on talking of how he will finally have his revenge but his words were his deadly mistake as David was using them to home in on his location and it helped that David wasn’t hearing footsteps. David took a deep breath then he swung around the corner, both hands on his pistol, aimed for a half second, and fired.

The bullet tore at the right shoulder of the man, it was half gone. As the man screamed in pain he put his left hand on the railing, he put too much weight on the old railing and as he leaned on it more it gave out. He fell to his death as he smashed through the wooden boards covering the hole to the basement. David heard sparks in the hole as the man’s fall had caused damage to a power box in the basement. David looked in as the flames began to grow. He then knew he ha to rescue Catherine fast.

Meanwhile in the forest where Luke and Josh are in hiding. The two men, now discovered to be terrorist henchman, are searching for Luke and Josh. It is very dark and the henchman are having a hard time finding them. Luke and Josh play in this kind of terrain at night. Luke and Josh are waiting for them as they have improvised their own plan. The darkness favours them as the two henchmen have lost each other. Josh throws a rock at one, luring his attention away from Luke and he knocks him out with a base-ball bat. Luke then had a stunned look on his face when the other henchman ha found his way and started shooting, but before he could hit Luke a voice yelled “FREEZE”. The henchman turned to shoot but the other shot first and he fell to the ground dead. The police had arrived in large numbers.

Back at the mansion the flames and smoke grew larger and David could find no one. He kept yelling her name in desperation. He then heard a distant voice yell his name. He followed it and called across that were locked, he stepped back than with a mighty kick sent the doors wide open. David had finally found Catherine. David freed her from the chair she was tied down to then Catherine gave David a loving kiss, they then both agreed they had to escape for the building could come crashing down any minute.

It seemed escape would be easy. As they move down the hall the building became more and more unstable as became more engulfed in smoke and flame. Out of no where a wood crashed down from the ceiling on top of David. David was stuck on the ground. As Catherine tried to lift up the heavy board David saw behind her the man alive and kicking! David said “Look out!” and Catherine turned around to see a dagger in his left hand, she quickly punched him in the face and he took many steps back, his leg then caved in through the floor. With only one arm good to him he was going no where. Catherine then went back to the wood, she struggled and struggle to move the board, it rise slowly but she used all her strength to finally get it off David.

Catherine helped David up and carried him down the hall and down the stairs. When they heard the scream of the man they looked behind them and saw the entire mansion coming down. They ran out the doorway as their final act of escape from a terrible death. As they did flames spewed out the doorway as the old mansion crumbled down into complete ruins. Outside was the police, firemen, and an ambulance. David and Catherine were immediately rushed to the ambulance, David had to go to the hospital and as the Ambulance drove down the road he closed his eyes.

As David’s eyes opened and closed he found himself in a hospital, then in a car. His eyes opened for good in the comfort of his bed with bandages around his waist. Lilia was next to him, she explained that he was home because he was more tired than injured. “Where is Catherine, and my friends?” David asked, Lilia replied “They are all fine”. David laid in bed for a bit but then decided to get up. He struggled a bit but he got up, dressed himself, and took one step at a time downstairs. Then he thought he would take a walk a step at a time. Before he left avid thought it would be good to honour the memory of his now avenged parents by wearing his father’s Star of Military Valour.

As David reached the end of the drive way he then saw Catherine approaching on the sidewalk. He moved towards her with open arms and then they both held each other close, no words were needed except for the words of love. Though the weather was bitterly cold they felt more the warmth coming from an unusual feeling within both, a feeling that was first felt in their hearts then seconds later everywhere. David’s parents were avenged and could finally rest peacefully in a better place causing David to have a new feeling of freedom within himself. David’s aunt and uncle became his legal parents and Lilia his sister. David and Catherine were together in harmony again.